Subscribe now

Earth

Dinosaurs were no strangers to climate change

By Fred Pearce

5 March 2008

Dinosaurs might have known a surprising amount about what we think of as a quintessentially modern problem: global warming. Fossilised vegetation from 65 million years ago in the late Cretaceous period, reveals that central Siberia was a lot like modern-day Florida, with lush ferns and lots of rain.

“Central Siberia in the late Cretaceous was a lot like modern Florida, with lush ferns and lots of rain”

Bob Spicer of the Open University in Milton Keynes, UK, and colleagues examined fossilised fern leaves to estimate temperature at the time. Instead of the 0 °C that climate models had led them…

Sign up to our weekly newsletter

Receive a weekly dose of discovery in your inbox. We'll also keep you up to date with New Scientist events and special offers.

Sign up

To continue reading, subscribe today with our introductory offers

Piano Exit Overlay Banner Mobile Piano Exit Overlay Banner Desktop